Financial institution of America is making modifications to its working hours insurance policies lower than a 12 months after the loss of life of 35-year-old junior banker Leo Lukenas III, who had reportedly put in 110-hour weeks for a month whereas engaged on a $2 billion acquisition.
Although the coroner’s report did not tie his loss of life to overwork, it has led Financial institution of America to reevaluate its hours and oversight construction.
Based on a report by the Wall Street Journal, Financial institution of America has now tasked choose senior bankers on the director stage and up with guaranteeing that junior workers, or associates and analysts, work inside the financial institution’s 80-hour workweek restrict.
Associated: Bank of America Threatens Workers Who Won’t Return to the Office With ‘Disciplinary Action’
Funding bankers obtain six-figure compensation for his or her work. Based on Certainly, the average salary for an funding banker at Financial institution of America is $255,074 per 12 months. Junior bankers are analysts or associates, making anywhere from $160,00 to $475,000 a 12 months in whole compensation.
Working 80 hours per week means clocking in at around 7 a.m. and leaving the workplace round 8:30 p.m., six days per week. As compared, the common American works 34 hours a week.
Working lengthy hours is the norm in funding banking. Based on a 2023 survey from the finance group website Wall Road Oasis, first-year funding bankers reported working a median of 77.12 hours per week and sleeping 5.98 hours each night time. In the meantime, some folks have claimed companies can demand as a lot as 120 hours per week.
Associated: Big Wall Street Banks Are Limiting Workweek Hours — to 80
A WSJ investigation in August uncovered that Financial institution of America supervisors pressured junior bankers to underreport what number of hours they labored. Following the article, Financial institution of America instructed junior bankers to report managers who overworked them. In September 2024, the financial institution launched a time reporting tool that required junior bankers to log their each day actions in higher element, as a substitute of merely logging their weekly duties, to maintain observe of hours labored.
“We wish all of our junior bankers to have the perfect expertise doable, studying from the teammates they work with and additional benefiting from the profession progress and improvement this function brings,” a Financial institution of America spokesperson instructed the WSJ.
Now, choose senior bankers will likely be accountable for supervising and managing junior banker workloads. A supply instructed the WSJ that executives are wanting into different methods to avoid wasting workers time, together with utilizing AI instruments to assist put together pitch decks and monetary forecasts.
Financial institution of America laid off 150 junior funding bankers primarily based on low efficiency final week, the corporate stated.
Financial institution of America employed 213,000 people globally, as of January.
Associated: Bank of America Is Raising Its Minimum Wage. Here’s What Full-Time Salaries Will Look Like.
